In a frame from video Konnie Beyma is interviewed near the excavation site in Macomb Township, Mich., Monday, May 14, 2018, where police have resumed digging in an area that might yield the remains of several missing girls. Beyma's sister, Kimberly King, disappeared in 1979 at age 12. Beyma says police believe they "are very close" to finding remains. The search began after police interviewed a prisoner locked up for the slaying of a 13-year-old girl whose remains were found in 2008 near the same area. less

In a frame from video Konnie Beyma is interviewed near the excavation site in Macomb Township, Mich., Monday, May 14, 2018, where police have resumed digging in an area that might yield the remains of several ... more

Photo: Mike Householder, AP

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In a frame from video, police resumed digging, Monday, May 14, 2018, in an area that might yield the remains of several missing girls in Macomb Township, Mich. Police believe they "are very close" to finding remains. The search began after police interviewed a prisoner locked up for the slaying of a 13-year-old girl whose remains were found in 2008 near the same area. less

In a frame from video, police resumed digging, Monday, May 14, 2018, in an area that might yield the remains of several missing girls in Macomb Township, Mich. Police believe they "are very close" to finding ... more

Photo: Mike Householder, AP

Image 3 of 3

Search resumes for remains of up to 7 Michigan girls

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MACOMB TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — After a weekend break, police on Monday resumed digging in suburban Detroit in an area that could yield the remains of up to seven missing girls.

Konnie Beyma, whose sister, Kimberly King, disappeared in 1979, visited the site and said the six-day effort in Macomb County's Macomb Township might not last much longer.

"I don't want to, of course, be let down once again. ... I'm trying not to get too hopeful," Beyma, 55, told The Associated Press, "but the information that detectives are providing — and still providing again this morning — indicate that they are very close, they are very certain, and we are almost there."

The search, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of downtown Detroit, began after police interviewed a prisoner, Arthur Ream, who was locked up in 2008 for the slaying of a 13-year-old girl. Cindy Zarzycki's remains were found a decade ago near the same woods where big machines now are clawing the soil.

Ream has declined to speak to news media by phone, the Michigan Corrections Department said.

Beyma's sister disappeared at age 12. She described Kimberly as a "little bit rebellious, a lot of a tomboy" who loved sports.

Beyma believes police will continue to work near 23 Mile Road and North Avenue until Tuesday. Bill Dwyer, police commissioner in Warren, Michigan, who is leading the investigation, said officers will also look at other areas, although he didn't disclose them.

Beyma said she her sister's remains would be buried in Kentucky next to a grandmother.